Azerbaijan writes its own history: New era, new prospects Key points of President Aliyev's programme theses

The inauguration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, took place in the Milli Majlis on February 14. After taking the oath of office, the Head of State addressed the audience in a speech that was both substantive and emotional and could rightly be described as a programme speech. This historic speech summed up the long and difficult path of restoring and strengthening Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, a test that the Azerbaijani people passed with flying colours. In this article, we would like to touch upon a number of important points on the political agenda of President Aliyev's speech.

At the beginning of his speech, President Aliyev recalled that in 2003 he promised to solve all the problems of the country, and in 2018 he gave his word that the occupied territories would be liberated and separatism on the territory of Azerbaijan would be put to an end. Two and a half years later, we have witnessed a great victory.

We fully share the President's pride, because this is certainly an outstanding achievement. To understand this, it is enough to remember how often politicians are unable to fulfil even the simplest promises - to build a hospital, for example. Let alone liberating twenty per cent of the territory from occupation in the face of tacit indulgence of the aggressor on the part of the world community.

It is not by chance that President Aliyev, while referring to the great victory, also recalled that the war might not have taken place if Armenia, its leadership and the forces behind it had complied with international law and the four resolutions of the UN Security Council. From the rostrum of the Milli Majlis, the parliament of the victorious country, this accusation was loudly voiced against a part of the world community that thought it had the right to decide the fate of the world.

At the same time, Aliyev also touched on the issue of post-conflict settlement, once again pointing out that Armenia, with an eye on its foreign patrons, will not voluntarily implement the terms of surrender it signed on 10 November 2020.

"Among them, first of all, there were obligations on the removal of illegal armed groups from the territory of Azerbaijan and on the road connection between the main part of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. These obligations were not fulfilled in three years. Armenia seems to have forgotten the results of the Second Karabakh War. Perhaps someone was giving them advice not to fulfil these obligations," Aliyev said.

The Head of State's story of why he went to Khankendi to vote on February 7 caused great excitement among those present and all those who listened to the speech on the radio. And it's better not to retell it in our own words, but to quote what the President said directly: "As you know, I cast my vote in Khankendi. I could vote anywhere in Azerbaijan, but I thought it would be more correct to vote in Khankendi. Bloody crimes against our people started in the late 1980s in Khankendi. It was in the building where I voted in Khankendi that the genocide against our people was planned and controlled from. It was in the square in front of the building where I voted that Armenian nationalists and then the Armenian state made territorial claims against us. It was in that building that a special committee was placed in Soviet times to sever Karabakh from Azerbaijan. The primary goal of that committee was to sever Karabakh from Azerbaijan, and everyone knows that. That is why the devils that illegally occupied our historical place for 30 years, the place built by Panahali Khan, confirmed their downfall there – as they had to, of course."

It seemed as if the whole long history of Azerbaijan was condensed in these words and placed in our hearts in the form of the simplest essence, the atom, a clear formula, so that at the next words of the President it could burst out with all its energy in stormy applause: "The vote I cast there, the ballot paper I dropped into that ballot box was not just a ballot paper. It was the final nail in the coffin of Armenian separatists." Every Azerbaijani felt at that moment that "Armenian separatists" in that phrase meant more than Armenian occupiers, they embodied the whole host of dark forces that did not want our glorious statehood to flourish.

Referring to the current agenda, Ilham Aliyev also put an end to the manipulations of the Armenian side regarding the allegedly peace-loving position of Yerevan and the allegedly destructive position of Baku in the peace talks.

"The state that officially recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and declared it in October 2022 on the one hand did not give up its territorial claims against us on the other. This was evident in their statements, as well as their laws, including their fundamental law, and also congratulatory letters sent by the Armenian leadership to the separatist forces. Those who do not want to see this, those who trying to stand behind Armenia today should know that they cannot conceal anything," the Head of State said.

Indeed, the Armenian leadership constantly refers to the Prague Declaration and the Almaty Declaration, completely "forgetting" that the price of all its words about recognising Azerbaijan's full sovereignty over Karabakh is zero, as long as the Armenian legislation not only "blesses" the territorial claims against Azerbaijan, but also turns them into a national idea.

Moreover, contrary to various speculations, President Aliyev reiterated that Baku has no claims on the territory of Armenia, adding that the Armenians should also give up their claims. Ilham Aliyev addressed this issue in the context of the discussion on the comprehensive development of the Azerbaijani armed forces.

"We have created an Army that – these things will be continued – no one can pick on us and even thing about that in the future. A fitting rebuff was immediately given to yet another provocation committed by Armenia the other day, and the enemy was punished. This was another signal to them and mainly to the forces that encouraged them, that sent us against us – no one can stand in our way," Aliyev said.

The issue of national ideology was one of the main points of the president's speech. In this regard, Ilham Aliyev remained faithful to the ideals of Azerbaijanism, which is based on the solidarity of all peoples, and all ethnic groups living in our country.

"The ideology of Azerbaijanism, and the principles of Azerbaijanism have long been established in Azerbaijan. One of the valuable legacies left to us by Great Leader Heydar Aliyev is the ideology of Azerbaijanism. We, as his followers, are invigorating these positive tendencies. All people living in Azerbaijan live like a single and friendly family. Those who want to undermine our unity, no matter how hard they try, have not succeeded and never will succeed. Because we are all rallied around a single cause. We have given martyrs and shed blood. We put our chests forward and went to fight against the Armenian invaders. This unity, this solidarity and this glorious history of Victory unites all the peoples living in Azerbaijan even more closely, and this is being set as a priority for us," the President noted.

Touching upon the issues of international politics, Aliyev made another programme statement: "In general, we should open up new horizons in the direction of foreign policy in this new era. Whereas in the previous period, the main direction of our foreign policy was the solution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, today this issue is almost no longer on the agenda (Aliev will return to this idea- Ed). This is why new directions of our foreign policy should prevail." These words reflect the increased potential of Azerbaijani statehood, which has every opportunity to expand its sphere of influence beyond the region.

The most important message was Aliyev's statement that, of all international organisations, Azerbaijan's first choice for cooperation would be within the framework of the Organisation of Turkic States: "This is a priority for us. I want to say it clearly. The current policy makes it clear to everyone. This is the main international organization for us because it is our family. We have no other family. Our family is the Turkic world."

I would also like to note here that it was Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day war that became a powerful impetus for a new round of development of the Turkic partnership. We must assume that Azerbaijan's confident continuation of its policy of defending its interests after the war, which resulted in anti-terrorist activities on September 19-20 and the full restoration of sovereignty, will serve as an additional impulse for the further development of pan-Turkic thinking in the direction of strengthening solidarity and cooperation.

The Azerbaijani leader also drew attention to our country's activity in solving the problems of the world, including those related to climate change, mentioning that our country will host and chair the COP29 conference. It is worth mentioning that the very fact of choosing our country as a venue for such an important conference testifies to the growing prestige of Azerbaijan in the international arena.

Aliyev listed the fight against Islamophobia and neo-colonialism among other priority tasks of international policy: "We are showing and will continue to show support in the fight for complete eradication of neo-colonialism and the remnants of that ugly history from the face of the Earth. Those responsible for neocolonialism should also know that they have unleashed a cold war on us in vain. We will not lag behind. We have never been on the defensive. We will take adequate measures to the steps taken against us, and those who are preparing cunning plans against us, I am sure, will regret it."

In this context, we should understand both the struggle against French neo-colonialism and, more generally, the growing role of Azerbaijan in shaping the common agenda of the Global South. Several years of chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement (with extension - ed.) have demonstrated to the whole world all the administrative and intellectual resources that our country possesses to be at the forefront of promoting the most progressive ideas of the global agenda.

In concluding his speech, Aliyev once again returned to Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. But not to underline their importance for the future agenda, but rather to close this page.

"I think that the importance of this issue is artificially exaggerated. Armenia’s patrons always want to discuss this issue, to show their effort, to pull the blanket to their side, to be mediators. First, to be a mediator, you need to be at least superficially neutral. We know what there is in your heart. But at least on the face of it, you have to follow some diplomatic rules. We do not need a mediator in this matter," Ilham Aliyev stressed.

Aliyev's statement reveals, among other things, the destructive nature of Western support for Armenia, which is not only against its state interests, but also sometimes against the wishes of its top leadership.

"We also wrote the text of the peace agreement and sent it to the Armenian side. Now, if Armenia wants to comply with the norms of international law, this agreement will be signed. If he doesn't and if groundless claims continue to be made against us, this agreement will not be signed, but nothing will change for Azerbaijan," he said.

Yerevan's dragging out of the process of normalising relations with Baku serves the purpose of artificially keeping a non-existent conflict on the agenda, apparently intending to artificially inflame tensions in the region. Aliyev announced to the whole world that Azerbaijan would not tolerate such unscrupulous manipulation. Perhaps it is worth quoting his own words: "I have already said that we should be ready for the challenges ahead of us, for the ugly policy being conducted against us. Therefore, I think that the process of normalization of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations should be dropped from the international agenda. Because anyone seems to want to deal with this issue. Mind your own business! This is why I don't want to spend a lot of time on this topic because it's not worth it."

It's very clear. The issue is closed for us. If Armenia does not want to turn the page with us, we will turn it alone.

The final part of Ilham Aliyev's speech sounded both as a summing up of a long journey and as a good plan for the future: "We have resolved our problem. Today we are in Aghdam, Fuzuli, Lachin, Jabrayil, Zangilan, Gubadli, Kalbajar, Shusha, Hadrut, Khojaly, Aghdara, Asgaran, Khankendi! This new era begins successfully. I am sure that it will also continue successfully. Good luck to all of us on this journey, may our path be clear!"

Well, history is being written before our eyes, and our history is being written by ourselves. President Ilham Aliyev has made every conceivable and unimaginable effort to make this happen. And the Azerbaijani people appreciated it on February 7.